Preview: The Levellers

THIS being the generation of music downloading and YouTube, there's a convincing argument that pop tribalism is now dead and we're all as likely to be listening to Arctic Monkeys as we are Sugababes on our iPods.

THIS being the generation of music downloading and YouTube, there's a convincing argument that pop tribalism is now dead and we're all as likely to be listening to Arctic Monkeys as we are Sugababes on our iPods.

Which is largely true, of course but there are exceptions - such as The Levellers.

Unfashionable, marginalised and contradictory, Brighton's The Levellers (and their fans) have occupied a funny, very self-contained place since they arrived in 1988.

It's not necessarily the band's love of politics which has scared critics and the fashion-swayed public, more the way The Levellers have inhabited their politics.

They're very much the voice of a lost (middle class) generation - eco-warriors, old punks, hippies, New Age travellers, all seduced by the band's blend of righteous, anti-establishment folk pop which has lasted a remarkable 11 albums.

Nonetheless, all this adds up to a genuinely one-off act, a band without political and commercial compromise, who, for environmental concerns, hold their own yearly Beautiful Day festival in Brighton, rather than play megabucks corporate festivals like every other rock band.